Freelance Income Calculator
What you keep from your rate and billable hours after fees, business expenses and an optional tax reserve.
Your work
Filled in with example values. Replace them with your own.
Your rate and workload
Business costs
Optional
A percentage of your profit to put aside for taxes. Choose it yourself or ask an accountant.
Currency symbol
Results update as you type.
Result
Take-home: $58,800.00 a year ($4,900.00 a month) from $72,000.00 revenue
You keep about
$58,800.00a year
- Take-home a monthYearly ÷ 12
- $4,900.00
- Take-home a working week
- $1,225.00
- Take-home per billable hourOut of $50.00 charged
- $40.83
- Revenue a year
- $72,000.00
- Profit before tax reserve
- $58,800.00
Where a year of revenue goes
- You keep
- $58,800.00
- Business expenses
- $6,000.00
- Platform and payment fees10% of revenue
- $7,200.00
- Revenue
- $72,000.00
How it’s calculated
Revenue
$50.00 × 1,440 h = $72,000.00
Minus fees
$72,000.00 × 10% = − $7,200.00
Minus expenses
monthly × 12 + yearly = − $6,000.00
Profit
revenue − fees − expenses = $58,800.00
You keep
profit − tax reserve = $58,800.00
How the freelance income calculator works
Your revenue is your hourly rate multiplied by the hours clients pay for over a year. From that, the calculator takes away platform or payment fees, then your business expenses, which leaves your profit. If you choose a tax reserve, that share of the profit is set aside too, and the rest is what you keep.
The formula
Revenue = Hourly rate × Billable hours a week × Working weeks
Profit = Revenue − Fees − Business expenses
Take-home = Profit − Profit × Tax reserve %
Worked example
A copywriter charges 50 an hour, bills 30 hours a week and takes 4 weeks off. Their platform keeps 10%, expenses are 500 a month, and they set aside 20% of profit for taxes (their own choice).
- Revenue: 50 × 30 × 48 = 72,000
- Fees: 72,000 × 10% = 7,200
- Profit: 72,000 − 7,200 − 6,000 = 58,800
- Tax reserve: 58,800 × 20% = 11,760
- Take-home: 47,040 a year, or 3,920 a month and about 32.67 per billable hour
Assumptions and limitations
- Every working week is assumed to be billed in full at the hours you enter. Quiet weeks reduce the result.
- Fees are a percentage of revenue; fixed per-payment charges are not included.
- The tax reserve is a planning figure you choose, not a tax calculation or advice.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from the Freelance Rate Calculator?
It works in the other direction. The Freelance Rate Calculator starts from the income you want and tells you what to charge. This one starts from what you charge and how much you bill, and tells you what you keep.
Why is take-home per billable hour so much lower than my rate?
Because every invoice also has to pay for fees, business expenses and any tax you set aside. The gap between your rate and your take-home per hour shows how much those costs weigh.
What does a negative result mean?
That fees and expenses are more than the revenue at this rate and workload, so the business is losing money. The calculator does not set aside a tax reserve on a loss.
Is the take-home figure after tax?
Only as far as the tax reserve you enter. It is a share of profit that you choose to put aside, not a tax calculation. Your actual tax depends on your country and situation.